This invention is addressed to the treatment of diesel fuels, and more particularly to the treatment of diesel fuels to render such fuels cleaner burning to control emissions and to improve combustion efficiency thereby increasing mileage.
The control of emissions from internal combustion engines has received substantially continuous attention for many years in attempts to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides (NOX), unburned hydrocarbons and others from the worldwide attention as attempts are made to fashion fuel additives that have the capability of making such liquid hydrocarbon fuels cleaner burning. Various approaches have been taken in the prior art in attempts to formulate additives that reduce the pollution generated by such fuels, but generally have met with limited success.
For example, it has been proposed to employ various alkyl ethers for the purpose of controlling pollution generated by gasoline fuels. Such attempts are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,089,580, 2,104,021, 2,221,839, 2,563,101, 2,786,745, 2,930,681, 3,032,971, 3,103,101, 3,270,497, and 5,425,790, as representative. As described in those patents, it is frequently the practice to employ such ethers either alone or in combination with alcohol to provide improved performance characteristics in a variety of liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
Attempts have likewise been made to clean up such fuels by incorporating in the fuel as an additive various aromatic detergents containing one or more aromatic rings and bonded thereto various alkylene oxide groups in an effort to reduce U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,328,284 and 3,615,295. The prior art has likewise proposed various combinations of additives to clean fuel systems. One such example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,494, describing a combination of oxy compounds in the form of monoethers of glycols and polyglycols in combination with dispersants derived from high molecular weight carboxylic acids, and particularly their esters, amides, imides, amidines and amine salts. U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,872 describes a fuel additive formulated of a lower alkanol combination with a surfactant to provide increased water tolerance in such fuel compositions. Similar approaches are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,981, teaching an oil sludge dispersant formulated of an alcohol, a glycol ether and a poly ethoxylated phenol. And U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,416 teaching a combination of a hydrocarbon substituted amine or polyamine and a poly (oxy alkylene) monool.
Attempts have also been made to use oxidizing agents in combination with glycols and glycol ethers. One such example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,511, describing the combination of an organic peroxide in combination with a lower alkylene glycol ether to reduce emissions. U.S. Patent No. nitro, amino or N-alkylamino-substituted poly (oxyalkylene) aromatic ethers in combination with antioxidants, metal deactivators, demulsifiers and like known additives. U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,936 describes a fuel additive for liquified petroleum gases or LPG containing a petroleum fraction methanol and an ethoxylated alkyl phenol.
Notwithstanding all of the efforts in the area of improving the performance of such fuels from a standpoint of pollution control, no product has been, up to the present, capable of satisfying rigorous pollution standards presently in effect or contemplated. Thus, there is a need to provide a fuel additive composition which has the capability of significantly reducing pollution from such liquified hydrocarbon fuels.
In copending application Ser. No. 09/156,420, filed Sept. 18, 1998, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,525 on Feb. 6, 2001, there is disclosed a fuel additive composition which has been employed in the treatment of a number of hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline which has been found to represent an advance in the art. That composition, utilizing a hydrocarbon emissions from a broad range of hydrocarbon fuels. It has now been found that the same composition can be effectively used in the treatment of diesel fuels with even greater efficiency than it provides when employed in the treatment of, for example, gasoline. That result was quite unexpected in light of the fact that diesel engines are notoriously more prone to generate pollution in the form of hydrocarbon and NOX emissions as compared to, for example, gasoline engines. Diesel fuel, because it typically contains predominantly C10 to C30 or higher hydrocarbons, has a markedly reduced volatility as compared to gasolines, and is more prone to water contamination. It was therefore quite unexpected that the additive composition disclosed and claimed in the foregoing copending application has even greater effectiveness in controlling and minimizing pollution generated by diesel engines.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a fuel additive composition which overcomes the foregoing disadvantage.
It is another object of the invention to provide a significantly lowering the pollution characteristics of such fuels when used in internal combustion engines.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a fuel additive composition which can be added to diesel fuels to promote cleaner, more efficient combustion thereof in internal combustion engines.
It is another related object of the invention to provide a method for the treatment of diesel fuels with a fuel additive composition whereby the pollution emitted by the treated fuel is substantially reduced.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved diesel fuel composition containing the fuel additive of the invention which has the capability of serving as a fuel in diesel engines which provides substantially reduced emissions.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter by way of the following description of the invention.
The concepts of the present invention reside in a novel fuel additive composition which is not only simple and inexpensive to manufacture, but also has the capability of enhancing the performance characteristics of diesel fuels such that the treated diesel fuels, when consumed in an internal combustion engine, burn far more efficiently with substantially less emissions. It has been found that the treated fuel according to the present invention provides not only greater fuel mileage but also provides increase horsepower realization. In accordance with the concepts of the invention, the fuel additive composition is formulated with a novel combination of components which function together to significantly reduce hydrocarbon emissions in the burning of diesel fuel to which the additive has been combined in internal combustion engines.
The fuel additive composition of the present invention is formulated to contain mineral seal oil, an alkylene glycol ether and at least one liquid nonionic surfactant. Optionally, the composition may also be formulated to include hydrocarbon which the foregoing components function in combination with each other is not fully understood at the present time. Without limiting the invention as to theory, however, it is believed that the mineral seal oil serves to provide upper cylinder lubrication as part of the combustion process. The mineral spirits, when present, appear to improve oxidation efficiency of the fuel with which the additive is combined and the glycol ether in combination with the surfactant appears to disperse water contained within the fuel system containing the additive so as not to interfere with the complete combustion of the treated fuel. Tests have shown that diesel fuel which has been treated with the fuel additive of the present invention can virtually immediately cause internal combustion engines to meet, and sometimes exceed, current pollution standards.
In accordance with another concept of the invention, the present invention is also directed to a method of treatment of diesel fuels with the fuel additive. In accordance with the method of the invention, the fuel additive composition is added to a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, which can then be burned in a diesel engine. The treatment of the diesel fuel with the fuel emissions given off during combustion.